is it just me? or am i the cause?

hey everyone,

it seems that ever since i had this whole IBS diagnosis (though i am still waiting to hear back on a Celiac diagnosis) i have been so sick!  if i am not in the bathroom all the time my sinus' are killing me or my throat is "sandy" or there is some other drama in my life.  i have missed so much work that it is ridiculous, i feel guilty about it--and now i am starting to wonder if there is some hidden subconcious thing going on that i hate my job... (which i don't think i do).  my stomach has been good since i have cut out the wheat and gluten and i am real careful with what i eat and i am taking almost no meds but acidophilus and the occational anti-diarrhea med.  but i have gotten colds, strep, sinusitis and i am home sick again with a monster of sinus problems.  granted i am in an environment that is not the healthiest, (i had the flood and my apartment and it stinks!  but we are moving soon) and i work with college kids who also aren't the healthiest, and i have read that a lot of your immune system is in your digestive system.  but i feel like i am always sick!!! and it is really getting me down, usually i am a very happy person but for the last year, it seems that everything sucks!  i have read some on the depression forum, but i have never been told that i was depressed, i do have a counsler that i work with because the IBS thing was a downer for me.  but does anyone else go through "phases" that your body and mind just aren't clicking??  what do you do about it.  i feel like if i go to work and go about my normal day i will be great, but i try to do that and i either get sick on the Metro or i am feeling crappy all day and then i am even worst the next day.  i know i have to take care of myself but i feel like NOTHING is working.  could IBS or any other digestive problems weaken the immune system to the point where i am now???  i feel like i am always sick... anyone understand, or is it all in my head????

--bunny

 

You know, I was just telling my fiance the other day that I've been sicker more often in the past year since I moved to Nashville than I have been since I was a kid in school. I had sinus problems after Thanksgiving, a stomach flu right before Christmas (never had a true "stomach flu" before). Then I got strep throat for the first time ever in April. Then I developed IBS in June.

At first I thought it was just that I was at home all of the time (unemployed) and not being regularly exposed to germs, so that when I did go out, I caught everything. But I've been working regularly since July and now have a cold. I haven't had just a regular cold (as opposed to allergy-induced sinus problems) since I was in college almost 5 years ago.

I am beginning to wonder if Nashville doesn't agree with me. Other than 4 years in Virginia while in college, I have spent most of my 26 years in the same county. A rural county at that--population of 12,000-15,000 people. I went to school in Roanoke, which if I remember correctly, had a population of around 200,000 people in the valley (not just inside the city limits). Nashville, by comparison, has a couple of million people. And while I live out in the boon-docks, I commute to Nashville every day. When I wasn't working, my significant other was commuting to Nashville every day. And when I went out into Murfreesboro, I was going into a city every bit as big as Roanoke. So I'm wondering if my reoccuring illnesses don't have something to do with the increased population, poorer air quality, etc. Anyone else noticed this?

Hopefully, though, my fiance and I will be moving back to the county where I grew up this upcoming spring/summer.

Stuart and I would like to be more self-sufficient. If he does well in his business he's wanting to set-up and can support the two of us, then I'll act as his receptionist and bookeeper and grow vegetables on the side. In addition to a horse or two, we'd also like to raise our own beef cow every year or two. And maybe keep a few chickens for eggs, although if I could get them slaughtered by someone for less than the cost of pre-packaged chicken, I'd keep them for meat too.

I believe in my right to eat tasty animals, but I don't think you should keep them in cruel conditions. I'd much rather know where my meat is coming from. And I'd like to know what's fertilizing my vegetables... like ash from our fire pit or horse and cow dung from our own clean, healthy animals. Maybe one day we'll get to be mini farmers. I don't know that it will help my stomach problems, but it certainly won't hurt anything either. Maybe we'll get to live to be 100.

You know, they have proven that exposure to animals at a young age actually helps prevent allergies later. In countries where people "live in harmony" with their farm animals, they have much less child and adult allergies and asthma.

i have been interested in doing a detox.  when i get really sick i feel so full of poisons that it makes me feel sicker!!  the closest thing to a detox i do is going for a run and taking a hot shower with epsom salts...

i only know of one person to do a detox, she did a fast then a juice diet if i recall.  but i have seen many products in health food stores and read about them, it just seems like there are so many--i don't want to get stuck doing a "not so good" one.

i eat pretty healthy, right now no wheat/gluten/dairy/eggs, or fried food or anything spicy... (so basically i am on the "no delicious foods diet".)  i just don't know where to start with a detox program, and right now i am having a relapse of sorts and some sinus problems--so i don't know what the best thing to do is...

i am really into the "natural" way of handleing things... but sometimes everyone needs a little help...

thanks, irish--is there any info or websites you would suggest?

--bunny

 

thanks lil, the article stated some info i did not know--really helpful, looks like i got some more research to do!
--bunny